I stood there for minute, and then Emily opened the door.

"Hi." I said, and through up a hand. She was wearing a flannel shirt, and dark washed jeans and vans. Her blonde hair was straight, and she wore the bare minimum of makeup. She was not like Danielle at all. Danielle would literally That’s what I like about Emily. She is not a high maintenance kind of girl. She is really down to earth, I just hope she is as easygoing as she seems to be.

"Hey, cutie." We pecked each other on the lips. She yelled out to her parents.

We held hands, walking to the car.

"My family won’t be joining us. It’s just to drive us. " I was nervous, and sounded like I might faint, or die.

"Oh cool. I want to meet your family. My family is lame." She said, and I opened the car door for her.

My mom greeted her with a big smile. My brother Tai looked at her, and Tobey stared blankly ahead.

Emily was being friendly with my mother, and complementing her on her outfit, and hair. I could not decide if that was nice, or it was just good manners. Emily sure had me fooled. But that is just how she is. She is always nice to everyone, even if they were complete jerks, or if she was in a mood, she would be nice, and friendly, and not want to bother others with her problems.

I got in, and Tai was talking to her. He had brought his DS, and was talking to Emily about Pokemon. It was boring, and I rolled my eyes, and gave Tai a look, but he did not see me. Emily was humoring Tai, and she even said that she played Pokemon. I was kind of embarrassed, but I was really glad to see my brother behaving, and my mother did not talk about me, when she was talking to Emily as she was driving. She was probably saving that for when she was alone. All women talk to about their men behind closed doors when they are together in the company of other women. It’s a female bonding thing.

We arrived at the sushi restaurant, where my brother dropped Emily and I off.

"I will pick you guys up at midnight. " My mother said, as she shove away. My mother is a very trusting person, or at least with me.

I walked with Emily, and held hands. The restaurant was located in an outdoor mall. It was all lit up. There were people everywhere, but I knew a perfect spot where we could be alone. Not too many stray off the beaten path here. It’s either eaters, or movie goers. Shopping really has little to do with this place, except to kill time between food, and movies.

"Your family seems nice. " She said, as we walked avoiding be sucked into two different flows of human traffic. God there were too many people. It was kind of a downer, but poor planning meant going with the flow, and going with what would be a socially acceptable nice place. I will remember that the next, if there will be a next time.

"Oh. You don’t live with them. This is the good, polite side. My brothers are evil little monsters."

She giggled. "All little brothers are that way. I have one, who is sweet to everyone, and has everyone he meets fooled. He even has my parents fooled. "

"Oh, really? My mother is not fooled. She knows how they can be. " I said, and smiled at her.

We rounded a corner. "yeah. He will do his chores, and homework, but when they are not looking he will push me down, pull my hair. Anything, you name. One time he came into my room, while I was doing homework. He put a pillow on my head, and farted on me, then ran away. "

"Sounds like a little brother thing, or big brother thing to do. My older brother did that, and Dutch ovens all the time to me. " I opened the door for her.

"Thank you." She said, walking in, and I followed her. I held the door for person behind us. The restaurant was busy like always on a Saturday night. It was bento box of a restaurant, but it had delicious food. We saw Caroline, and Taylor, and some other girls that I did not know. Emily went over to go say hi, after she told me what she wanted. I surprised. My brother was wrong. Girls do know what they want to eat. Just take to a restaurant that is good, but that maybe the hardest part.I got lucky in my spontaneity. We ordered our food to go. I paid, and grabbed the bag, when it was time, and we walked out of the tiny hovel of a place. They tried to get Emily and I to sit, but I said "No, I don’t want to disturb you guys." That was true, but I just wanted to be with Emily alone.

"I have a place that will be quiet so we can eat in peace. "

"Okay. I was wondering why you did not want to sit down in the restaurant."

We walked, and talked about Caroline, and her new job as a barista, and the type of people that come in. Most of the stories were horrors. People are real jerks to people who work in the service industry. We sat down on a bench that overlooked some water, lit up with the lights. I was right. There were not many people out here.

We ate are sushi rolls, and we talked about our families. She had been to Germany, and France. She was born in France. Her mom was pregnant, and did not expect to have her so early. Emily was a premature baby. That is why she says that her legs are scrawny, and one leg is slightly longer, though I did not see what she was talking about.

"Sometimes, I want to be done with high school. Go to college in Paris, or Berlin. I know we just started high school, but I hate the people, and the smell of the building. It smells like moldy cheese. I have known most of these people because of the school districts. People don’t really change here, Jeong. "

I looked at her, and ate some more sushi. " I think people change all the time. They are changing all the time, but they just keep it hidden. "

She smiled, and wiped her mouth. "My older sister is still the same, and she is nearly 5 years older than I am. She goes to college here at the University. She still lives at home. She stills the arrogant, lazy, dumbass she has always been. She passed high schooling flirting with everyone. Boy, girl. You name it, she flirted with it. I don’t want to be here. I need real change. "

I held her hand, after she had said that. " Well I am here. Do you want that to change?"

She smiled at me. We leaned in and kissed each other in the glow of orange of the lit up outdoor mall. There was a smile breeze, that made the dead leaves dance upon the cold, hard concrete.

My heart was racing in a good way. We were alone. There were no one to tell us to stop, or that we should follow the rules. We were free in that moment to make our own rules.

Next Chapter: Chapter 30